The impact of the volunteer action has been measured in several countries around the world. Much of the research to date has been carried out in industrialized countries and new efforts are being made to solicit voluntary impact assessment in countries of the South. The following is a sampling of statistics from existing national surveys that illustrate motives and social and economic benefits derived from volunteerism. If all people who donate their time but do not necessarily recognize themselves as volunteers were to be included then the figures would most likely be much larger.

A survey in Brazil shows that 50 per cent of volunteers take up voluntary activity because they enjoy helping others, 38 per cent feel obliged to help the less fortunate and 31 per cent volunteer because their religion or studies require them to.
(Source: Lions Club International, 1998)

Canadian volunteers contribute an average of 191 hours per year. This time is equivalent to 578,000 full-time jobs. (Source: Canadian Centre for Philanthropy, 1997)

Nineteen per cent of adults surveyed in France said they volunteer their time. Of these, 60 per cent said they volunteer 20 or more hours a month. Some 46 per cent of the respondents said they volunteered because they liked to help others, while 27 per cent felt obligated to help. (Source: Lions Club International, 1998)

About one of every three adults in Germany -- 34 per cent -- currently volunteer an average of 15 hours a month within associations, initiatives, projects and self-help groups. Three-quarters of people surveyed volunteered to increase their "knowledge and experience". Forty per cent of non-volunteers said they were interested in taking up voluntary activity. (Source: Projectverbund Ehrenamt/Infratest Burke, 1999)

About 15 per cent of non-profit organizations in Ghana work in the area of education and research followed by environment, 13 per cent and community and rural development, 13 per cent. (Source: Johns Hopkins Non-profit Sector Survey, 1998)

About 33 per cent of the adults in Ireland are currently volunteers. The total amount of time given to voluntary work per year is equivalent to some 96,454 full-time workers. Seventy-two per cent of people feel that volunteers offer something that could never be provided by paid professionals. (Source: Charitable Giving and Volunteering, Ruddle, H. and Mulvihill, R., 1999)

More than 26 per cent of adults surveyed in Japan said they currently volunteer or had volunteered in the past. Some 48 per cent said the reason for volunteering was because they thought it was useful in some way and 33 per cent of respondents volunteered for a learning experience. (Source: Japan Broadcasting Corporation, 1998)

In South Korea, 3,898,564 persons volunteered over 451 million hours in 1999. The economic value of yearly volunteering exceeds $2 billion. (Source: Ministry of Home Affairs and Government Administration, 1999)

In the United States, the number of individuals who volunteer has reached almost 56 per cent -- 62 per cent of women volunteering an average of 3.4 hours per week and 49 per cent of men volunteering 3.6 hours per week. In 1998 an estimated 109 million adults volunteered. (Source: INDEPENDENT SECTOR, 2000)

More facts and surveys on volunteering available at http://www.iyv2001.org in the research and policy section, or contact:

　　Ms. Li Dan
　　Tel: 010-6532 3731-239
　　Fax: 010-6532 2567
　　Email: dan.li@undp.org

　　Beijing International Volunteers Association
　　Tel: 86 10 62016342、62371935、62371946、62371948
　　Fax: 86 10 62380927、62011328
　　Email: wangmiao@civa.org.cn